diy wooden tray centerpiece{from the chronicles of home}

by @according2kelly on November 6, 2013

for the entire month of november we will be baking, sewing & crafting up a storm, preparing handmade gifts for this holiday season.

so dust off your sewing machine, & head on over to skip to my lou for some fabulous sewing projects.rev up your mixers, & visit a southern fairytale for lots of edible yummies & holiday-inspired recipes you definitely don’t want to miss.

today, our featured blogger is the blogger extraordinaire behind the chronicles of home, jennifer. jennifer is a furniture maker, upholsterer, decorator, head chef of the house, and an incurable do-it-yourselfer. Carpentry and upholstery projects have become her favorite and she especially loves to build new and rehab old furniture. she adores home design & decorating, and cooking & eating good, delicious food. she also loves beautiful fabric, reading, anything kelly green, pasta made from scratch, dark chocolate, and brown butter. You’ll find a smattering of all these things on her blog, the chronicles of home.

diy wooden tray centerpiece

If you are new to woodworking, this is a great starter project!

I wanted something narrow I could use in the the center of my dining room table through the holiday season this year and settled on a handmade rustic wooden tray. It’s perfect for corralling any number of seasonal decorations and I love the high-low effect I get when it’s paired with my silver and white china and glittery glass candlesticks.

Here’s what you’ll need to complete this project:

fine grit sandpaper block

1×3 pine board cut into four pieces – 2@20 1/2″ and 2@5 1/2″

1×6 pine board cut to 19″

wood stain (I used Minwax Early American)

drill

2 cabinet pulls

corner clamp

nail gun with 3/4″ nails or 3/4″ finishing nails and a hammer

The very first step is giving all of the boards a light sanding to get rid of any rough spots. Wipe clean with a dry or slightly damp cloth.

Apply your stain by wiping a thin coat on with a paper towel or rag. Let soak in a moment before wiping down with another dry paper towel or rag. You can also opt to apply a wood conditioner before the stain but for this project I wanted the slightly streaky look you get applying stain straight to pine so skipped the wood conditioner this time around.

Center the cabinet pulls on the 5 1/2 pieces of pine and mark where the holes should be drilled to attach the hardware. Drill holes then attach hardware with screws (included with most pulls).

Use a corner clamp to hold one 20 1/2″ piece of pine and one 5 1/2″ piece together so they are perpendicular. Drive a few nails through the side of the long piece into the short piece to hold them together. Repeat on the other side with the other 20 1/2″ piece.

Take the 1×6 and lay it on a flat surface. Slide the partially constructed frame over it and attach the bottom to the sides by driving nails through the 20 1/2″ pieces into the 1×6 bottom piece. Finish the box by attaching the remaining 5 1/2″ piece to the other end.

I added a faux berry garland and some mini gourd candles to my tray for the fall and Thansgiving and will probably fill it with greenery, some votives, and mini gold ornaments for some Christmas sparkle.

I’m always cooking or working on something so stop by anytime and see what’s new at The Chronicles of Home! You can see this centerpiece tray and other fall projects in my Fall Home Tour.

bake craft sew {giveaway}

ready for some amazing giveaways? enter our amazing bake, craft, sew giveaway. really want to win? every day you’ll have a new chance to win on a new blog. so be sure to come back tomorrow. & make sure to visit skip to my lou & a southern fairytale for giveaway opportunities!

baking, crafting & sewing along at home? don’t forget to play show & tell… upload your photos to our flickr group HERE. follow along with all of our featured bakers, crafters & sewers on twitter HERE, & tweet about the holiday-inspired “bake, craft & sew along” using the hashtag #bakecraftsew.